Hispanic theatre is a type of theatre that is a large group of varying cultural theatres within the Latino community including, Mexican or Chicano, Puerto Rican, and Cuban. Chicano theatre first originated pre-English speaking theatre as a cultural trade for the Spanish settlement and pillaging of the 1500's. Some years after this, after the Mexican-American war, thousands of Mexicans were now living in America without ever leaving their homes and the Gold Rush of 1849 also brought more Mexican over the border. This new population of people developed arts to keep them together culturally including theatre. The theme of this was largely biblical, showing the long lasting impact of colonization from Catholic Spain. Immigrant troupes began to crossover to supply the need for more Mexican theatre. In the 1910s there was a revolution in Mexico and the traveling troupes disappeared and were replaced with Mexican-American ones. When the great depression struck, it hit the theatres hard and they did not reemerge in full strength until the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. This new wave of Chicano theatre wove the wave of popularity gained from workers strikes and were very ideological in nature. Plays tended to reflect community values and those in the community who did not agree with those values were seen as sellouts. Since then new plays have been made exploring the heritage and diverse culture within the Mexican/Chicano people. Many of these plays feature a mix of Spanish and English, in contrast to earlier plays which were written almost exclusively in Spanish.
India Hodo
Hispanic theatre is a type of theatre that is a large group of varying cultural theatres within the Latino community including, Mexican or Chicano, Puerto Rican, and Cuban. Chicano theatre first originated pre-English speaking theatre as a cultural trade for the Spanish settlement and pillaging of the 1500's. Some years after this, after the Mexican-American war, thousands of Mexicans were now living in America without ever leaving their homes and the Gold Rush of 1849 also brought more Mexican over the border. This new population of people developed arts to keep them together culturally including theatre. The theme of this was largely biblical, showing the long lasting impact of colonization from Catholic Spain. Immigrant troupes began to crossover to supply the need for more Mexican theatre. In the 1910s there was a revolution in Mexico and the traveling troupes disappeared and were replaced with Mexican-American ones. When the great depression struck, it hit the theatres hard and they did not reemerge in full strength until the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. This new wave of Chicano theatre wove the wave of popularity gained from workers strikes and were very ideological in nature. Plays tended to reflect community values and those in the community who did not agree with those values were seen as sellouts. Since then new plays have been made exploring the heritage and diverse culture within the Mexican/Chicano people. Many of these plays feature a mix of Spanish and English, in contrast to earlier plays which were written almost exclusively in Spanish.